Vehicle control device and vehicle control method

Abstract

A vehicle control device is configured to perform at least one of: executing control of vehicle equipment possessed by the vehicle, and managing a state of the vehicle equipment, receive, from a service providing unit that executes application software, a first command, which is described in a standardized format and requests implementation of a target function utilizing the vehicle equipment, convert the first command into a second command, determine whether the target function can be implemented, cause an equipment management unit to execute an instruction according to the second command, and transmit, together with a nonconformity reason indicating a reason for infeasibility, suggestion information indicating requirement necessary for the target function to be determined feasible, to a requester of the first command.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle, comprising:
 at least one of (i) a circuit and (ii) a processor with a memory storing computer program code executable by the processor, the at least one of the circuit and the processor configured to cause the vehicle control device to:   perform at least one of: executing control of vehicle equipment possessed by the vehicle, and managing a state of the vehicle equipment;   receive, from a service providing unit that executes application software, a first command, which is described in a standardized format and requests implementation of a target function utilizing the vehicle equipment, and to convert the first command into a second command described in a format executable by the vehicle; and   determine whether the target function can be implemented, and, when implementation is possible, to cause the vehicle control device to execute an instruction according to the second command, and when the implementation is not possible, to transmit, together with a nonconformity reason indicating a reason for infeasibility, suggestion information indicating requirement necessary for the target function to be determined feasible, to a requester of the first command,   wherein   the nonconformity reason includes: an equipment nonconformity indicating that the vehicle equipment is unsuitable for implementing the target function; a scene nonconformity indicating that a scene identified from the state of the vehicle is unsuitable for implementing the target function; and an authorization nonconformity indicating that the requester of the first command does not have authority to use the target function, and   the at least one of the circuit and the processor is configured to add the suggestion information when the nonconformity reason is either the equipment nonconformity or the scene nonconformity.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle control device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 when the nonconformity reason is the equipment nonconformity, the suggestion information includes information indicating the vehicle equipment that is conforming.   
     
     
         3 . The vehicle control device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 when the nonconformity reason is the scene nonconformity, the suggestion information includes information indicating the scene that is conforming.   
     
     
         4 . The vehicle control device according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 a log storage unit configured to store an access log associating the nonconformity reason, which is generated and the suggestion information with information related to the target function that is a subject of a determination.   
     
     
         5 . The vehicle control device according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the at least one of the circuit and the processor is further configured to cause the vehicle control device to read out the access log stored in the log storage unit in response to a request from outside the vehicle and to provide to a requester.   
     
     
         6 . A vehicle control method for a vehicle comprising an equipment management unit configured to perform at least one of execution of control of vehicle equipment and management of a state of the vehicle equipment, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a service providing unit that executes application software, a first command described in a standardized format and requesting implementation of a target function that utilizes the vehicle equipment, and converting the first command into a second command described in a format executable by the vehicle; and   determining whether the target function can be implemented, causing the equipment management unit to execute an instruction according to the second command when implementation is possible, and notifying, together with a nonconformity reason indicating a reason for infeasibility, suggestion information indicating requirement necessary for the target function to be determined feasible, to a requester of the first command when implementation is not possible,   wherein   the nonconformity reason includes: an equipment nonconformity indicating that the vehicle equipment is unsuitable for implementing the target function; a scene nonconformity indicating that a scene identified from the state of the vehicle is unsuitable for implementing the target function; and an authorization nonconformity indicating that the requester of the first command does not have authority to use the target function, and   when the nonconformity reason is either the equipment nonconformity or the scene nonconformity, the suggestion information is added to a notification to the requester of the first command.